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Coleman: Who's Hot, Who's Not And Mets' West Coast Swing Wrapup

By Ed Coleman
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A few musings after the Mets' longest road trip of the season:

7-4 with a Matt Harvey capper on Sunday in San Diego would have been terrific, but 6-5 is nothing to sneeze at. Most experts and fans had the Mets going 3-8 or 2-9 over this stretch.

The two-out magic continues -- with a hitch. Prior to the loss on Sunday, the Mets had scored 13 of their previous 16 runs with two outs. They still lead all of baseball in two-out runs with 220. They also lead the majors by hitting .277 with RISP and two outs, and they're batting .267 overall with two outs - the third-highest batting average in the majors.

What's the hitch? Well, it comes on the other side. After five more on Sunday, Mets pitchers have now surrendered 200 runs with two outs -- the fourth-most in the majors.

The Mets hit .255 as a team over the course of the trip, just below their season average (.259). But they hit just .220 with RISP, about 40 points below their season average.

They left a small army of men on base - 85 LOB to be exact. The Mets have left the fourth-most men on base in the NL, and they just played two of the three teams (Giants and Padres, St. Louis being the other) that have stranded more.

WHO'S HOT:

Ruben Tejada: Tejada hit in all 11 games on the trip at a .380 clip (19-50). Since returning from the quad strain on June 24, Tejada has batted .335 with 22 runs scored and 18 multi-hit efforts in 35 games.

Daniel Murphy: Despite going 0-4 on Sunday, Murphy completed the trip batting .289. He leads the team in doubles with 33, and sits in pretty good company with 5 four-hit games this season -- tied for most in the majors with the Pirates' Andrew McCutchen.

Andres Torres: Despite going 0-4 with three strikeouts on Saturday, Torres still hit .370 (10-27) on the trip and had a season-high seven-game hitting streak. But the switch-hitter still remains a one-sided player -- .312 BA with a .434 OBP from the right side, while just a .181 BA with a .283 OBP from the left side.

Scott Hairston: What's new. Hairston batted .393 out west. More than half his hits have gone for extra bases (33 of 65), and he's driven in 44 runs in just 244 AB

Ronny Cedeno: No one made better use of his time and AB than Cedeno on this trip. He went 7-12 with a pinch-hit HR and 10 RBI - 10 - while appearing in just four of the 11 games.

WHO'S NOT:

David Wright: And for the team's sake, this better not last much longer. Wright is now 0 for his last 10, hit just a paltry .184 (7-38) on the trip, and is batting .177 over his last 17 games while compiling just 1 multi-RBI game over that stretch.

Jordany Valdespin: Has come back to earth. Valdespin hit only .161 during the swing, and is batting just .175 over his last 40 AB. Anyone seen a cut-up T-shirt?

Josh Thole: Having the ball knocked out of his glove in San Diego was bad enough. But Thole is 0 for his last 8 at the dish, and batted an anemic .115 (3-26) on the left coast.

Jason Bay: Could we end with anyone else. Bay collected just two hits (31 AB) and 3 RBI on the trip, and is hitting .109 since returning from his second stint on the DL.

Special mentions to Jeremy Hefner, who acquitted himself nicely in his 3-start window filling in for Johan Santana, and to lefty reliever Josh Edgin, who has not allowe a run in his last 9 outings spanning 9 1/3 innings. The Edge has racked up 19 strikeouts in 12 innings of work while allowing just four walks.

That's countered by the news of yet another Mets pitcher with anterior capsule shoulder woes -- hello, Tim Byrdak. Isn't there a limit as to how many of these guys you can have on your roster?

The Mets return to Citi Field where they've dropped seven straight and eight of the last nine. If they have a move left in them, it best be now. They face the Marlins, who are a mess at the moment, followed by the sizzling Atlanta Braves. The next homestand brings in two of the worst road teams in baseball - the Rockies and Astros - who are a combined 29-76 (.276) away from home. Ah, but in-between - only the two teams with the best records in baseball - the Reds and Nationals - on the road, no less. Better start soon.

C U soon
Eddie C.

Who else is hot or not? Be heard in the comments below!

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